Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Grandma Trudie's Southern Apple Cake Made Gluten-Free

I was lucky enough to have three loving grandmas when I was younger: my mom's mom, my dad's mom and my stepfather's mom. All three were interesting, sweet women, and I miss them all now that they are gone. Each one had their own interests and kitchen passions.

My mom's mom was a Depression baby who collected cookbooks and loved to bake and I have many recipes in my card file from her kitchen experiments. Each summer we would plan lovely picnics where we would pick wildflowers, collect abandoned balls from a nearby public tennis court, and feast on deviled eggs, her special iced tea and her buttery cupcakes.

My dad's mom was a butcher's daughter and was known for her slow-cooked roasts and chops and for having an electric coffee percolator snuffling away in the corner of the kitchen when her best friend would come over for an afternoon of card playing and conversation. She was incredibly well-read and could polish off the Sunday crossword puzzle in expert time. In pen, no less.

My step-grandmother, Grandma Trudie, lived far away in Atlanta, Georgia, but would come up on the train for a week or two each year toting heavy suitcases filled with cans of my stepdad's favorite breakfast sausage and boxes of Nabisco cookies from the factory where she worked. She was a fantastic Southern cook and as a teen foodie I pestered her to explain how she made her Brunswick Stew, potato salad, and her moist apple cake. She was an intuitive cook that had most of her recipes in her head, so she'd smile when I'd ask her for measurements.

"Oh, I don't know, sugar", she'd say, "add about enough flour until the batter is right."

I'd knit my brow with youthful puzzlement and write something down to approximate what I saw her doing.

I had a hankering for my Grandma Trudie's Apple Cake last week and pulled out the framework of the recipe I had. It called for a small ("you know, small") bag of sweetened flaked coconut, but as I have a coconut-phobe in the house, I left it out. I also made adjustments to this treasured recipe to accommodate our gluten-free needs, so feel free to substitute wheat flour or your favorite GF flour blend).

What a great post! I love the descriptions of your grandmas--and how great that you have food memories of all 3! I am bookmarking this for the next time my playgroup includes a gluten free kid! Thanks for participating!

Garbanzo bean (or chick pea or besan) flour tastes a little nutty. I like it in cookies and brownies and cakes and especially in bhajis (I've got recipes on this blog for those crispy Indian veggie fritters, one of our family favorites).

If I was making a delicate tasting item, I would use rice flour instead, but I like to use chickpea flour a lot because it adds a little flour, which is often lacking in my gf baking.

This cake is FANTASTIC!!! I up the spice quotient quite a bit, just because that's the way we like things, and used a rice/potato/tapioca flour blend. I am making it now for the second time and will make it many times more. Thank you!!!

Cook the Books

A Foodie Book Club

Gluten Free Goddess

What I'm Reading for Cook the Books

Comfort Me With Apples, by Ruth Reichl

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This blog is an original work of creative expression by Rachel Jagareski. All photos, text, and original recipes herein are copyrighted by the author/artist Rachel Jagareski (c) 2007-2014. All rights are reserved by the author. Please contact me for permission to republish or broadcast any material beyond your own personal use. Thank you.